The Dopamine Effect
by Syylph
Summary: HOLMES/WATSON! Sherlock is back to his old habits of cocaine use again and Watson has had enough. Watson devises a plan that he believes will for sure end this. What could it possibly be?


Watson had just come back home from the hat shop and was proudly wearing his new bowler. He tilted his head towards the large sign above the house and read : 221 B Baker Street. He grinned broadly as he made his way up the steps and brushed his feet on the doormat before letting himself in. As he walked up the stairs he counted to himself '15, 16, 17 steps' when he reached the top, just like Holmes told him in an old conversations about deduction.

He walked through the door and his eyes widened with shock. Holmes had a needle in his hand, his sleeves rolled up and was seconds away from jabbing it into his forearm. "SHERLOCK!" He dropped his things and bolted over to his companion's side swiping the needle from him just in time. Watson held the needle, anger and frustration boiling in him. "I don't want you to hurt yourself!" Holmes glared at him through glistening eyes before flopping down in an arm chair and resting his head on his fingers. He looked up at Watson, "You called me Sherlock."

Watson flinched, a bit of the drug squirted out and sizzled in the fire beside him. He looked up at Holmes, he stared back with a very slight smirk on his face. Watson brushed off this comment, "That's not the point… Holmes, if I hadn't arrived in time, you would have-" He broke off in mid sentence. Holmes's smirk was distracting to him when he was trying to explain something. "You would have injected yourself with this…this horrible chemical." He threw it on a nearby table letting it crash into Holmes's chemistry equipment.

Holmes's closed his eyes and took in a deep sigh. "You do understand that "chemical" gives me the freedom to relax from all this deducing and problem solving." He slid his hand across his face and groaned. "You have no idea Watson, how many housewives I have to cope with, coming and asking me to conclude whether their husband is cheating or not. It gives me such a headache." He leaned back letting his head fall on the back of the chair.

Watson did pity him greatly when he heard this and saw how miserable he looked. But that didn't change his view on his actions. "You don't have to handle it like this Holmes, using cocaine. It's not helping you in anyway."  
"Do you know what cocaine does Watson?" He said, his head still resting on the chair.

Watson stared at him. "Of course I do, I'm a doctor."

"Then you know that it releases dopamine in the brain which pleasures the body."  
Watson shifted uncomfortably. "I do."

"Then I do not understand what you mean when you state that cocaine is 'not helping me in anyway'"

Watson scowled at this remark. Holmes was always so stubborn when it came to arguments. If his view was proclaimed wrong then he would find another way around it to make it right. Still, Watson was not convinced. "You may not notice it now, but it's destroying your body. You have to stop."  
"There is no other remedy out there that would give me as much contentment as cocaine."

Watson was almost at his boiling point. He grabbed the needle and held it out even though Holmes was not looking. "This!" He shook it angrily. "This is ruining your life! You can't go on using it!"

"Well do you have a better proposition?"

Watson stood there, his mouth agape. Then something entered his mind and a clever smile spread across his face.

"My dear Holmes." He said, putting the needle back on the table, the same witty smile on his face. "I believe I have just found the answer." Holmes's head shot up and his wide eyes were fixated on Watson. "You have?!"

"Indeed my friend. You see, I am a doctor so I understand this addiction you're going through." Holmes sat up and grabbed his pipe on a nearby table, lit it and stuck it between his lips sucking thoughtfully. "I'm listening."

"You are experiencing the dopamine effect." Holmes blew smoke into Watson's face sending him into a coughing fit. "Yes, yes I already understand that. What's your point?" "Well *cough* dopamine is a chemical in your brain that is released when something pleasures the body, which you already understand. For example," He walked over to his bag and pulled out a fresh package of pastries. "Cookies!" Holmes's eyed them and continued to puff on his pipe. "Everybody loves cookies. When we eat a cookie, we get a sense of satisfaction and comfort resulting in a release of dopamine in the brain. This is why we continue to crave things like sweets and…" He eyed the needle on the nearby table. "Unfortunately drugs."

Watson began walking around Holmes's chair; he enjoyed being the one explaining things once in a while. "Drugs give you an artificial feeling of bliss and are usually more powerful in succeeding the release of dopamine, therefore, more addictive."

Sherlock puffed smoke into the air around them.

"So you're telling me that you want me to get an addiction to sweets?"

Watson chuckled. "Not exactly. I'm trying to help you get 'unaddicted' to your cocaine."

"And how would you accomplish that?"

"Well luckily there is an alternative and it doesn't have to do with sweets."

Holmes's took in a deep inhale of smoke as Watson leant in towards his ear from behind and whispered. "Sex."

A stream of smoke emitted from Holmes's nostrils as he stiffened in his chair. Watson grinned from behind enjoying his reaction. "Sex, you say." Watson could tell Holmes was intrigued by this. He really thought he could actually change his mind for the better. "It has the same effects as cocaine; some say it's even better. For example," He nuzzled his nose into the side of Holmes's cheek which caused him to stiffen even more. "The feeling of being touched by another… exceptionally increases the release of dopamine. Also…" He nibbled on Holmes's ear sending chills throughout his entire body. "…being caressed in erogenous help fulfill the effect."

Watson let his hands slide down Holmes's shirt making the buttons pop open from underneath. He felt his hot skin shiver underneath the button-down and began stroking it. Holmes's didn't know how to react to Watson at all and neither was he experienced. "Watson, I-"

"Sh-sh-shhh…I'm your doctor so I'll tell you what you need."

Slowly, Watson drifted around the other side of the chair and gently laid on top of Holmes's. He had his legs wrapped around his waist as he ran his fingers through Holmes's locks of dark brown hair. Watson then moved his hands down his face and cupped it in his hands leaning in for a kiss. As their lips touched, Holmes's thought he had never experienced anything like it in his life before. It was a light, delicate kiss yet full of passion and love. It sent an electrifying sensation throughout his entire body from head to toe.

The two men began to feel very hot underneath their collars and they were both fully dressed in suits. Watson took care of that starting by loosening Holmes's tie, unbuttoning his suit shirt and continuing on from there. Soon, they were both almost shirtless, Holmes's still had his white undershirt on that was unbuttoned revealing his bare chest. Watson had his tie on still Holmes's insisting it stay on calling it 'kinky'.

Holmes grabbed Watson's tie and pulled him into a loving kiss. Watson broke away and began brushing his lips lightly across Holmes's hawk nose, his cheeks, then his neck. He brought himself back to face his lover smiling affectionately.

"Your verdict?"

"This is much better than cocaine." Holmes's said without a second thought.

"Remember Sherlock" Watson said, kissing Holmes's finger tips.

"We've only just started."


End file.
